Daughter dyes hair blue to bring awareness to dad’s plight

April 9, 2013

I know that I am going to be asked a million times "Why blue?" and I know that I won't ever get tired of being able to answer.

There are some times in our lives that it seems like there is nothing that we can do, but we can always do something.

My something is blue - blue hair.

I have just moved quite a way from my family for my husband to take an amazing job in Pennsylvania, and my dad is in Alabama, preparing to undergo deep brain stimulation surgery.

I want nothing more than to be able to take away the stress and anxiety of this decision and even just take away the dystonia, but that is not my reality.

Instead, I am left to feel like there is nothing that I am able to do. So, instead, I am choosing to dye a lock of my hair blue. Not just for my dad, but for all the people who have touched my life in some way with dystonia.

No, I don't suffer from dystonia, but I know so many strong, amazing people who do suffer from this disorder, and I only can bring awareness to it for what it is, does and takes away.

Dystonia entered into my life through my dad in 2006 and has been a major part of our family's life ever since he was diagnosed. I have done many things to raise awareness and money but I find myself in a place where none of the things I have done in the past are right for me at this moment.

However, I mentioned it to my husband the other week that I was thinking about it and he said simply "do it!" Well, I did.

I don't know exactly how long I will have blue hair or exactly what I am going to do about it, if anything, to publicly let everyone know what I am doing other than this column, but I will figure that out as I go.

The coolest part about this whole turn of events in the last couple of weeks is that my husband said one day, "What if I do it, too?" That is, in fact, what we have done. We did it together. We both "went blue."

So what does this mean? Well, nothing really, other than to let people know that there is a disorder out there that goes by the name dystonia that is affecting people's lives drastically.

There is no cure for it, but some great research is being done on it. There is a wonderful foundation that I am passionate about called the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation that is full of compassionate people all working toward the good that can be found to help with this disorder. What this boils down to is awareness.

For now we are planning on keeping our locks blue until my dad has the procedure and recovers. After that, who knows what else we will do - but I think it will be fun!

For now, I will just start answering the question "Why blue," telling the story of dystonia, raising awareness and sharing my dad's story.

When you feel like there is nothing that you can do, you can always do something.